Lublin as a candidate for the title of European Capital of Culture 2016

Lublin is one of the Polish cities that are applying for the title of European Capital of Culture 2016.

This prestigious and important title is awarded every year to two cities of the Member States. In 2016 this title will be granted to cities from Spain and Poland. The cities will be designated in 2011.

Lublin is Europe’s gate to the East, the city of students and culture animators, the city where Lublin Union was signed, where different religions and cultures have coexisted for ages. What is more, Lublin Region is one of the most beautiful natural areas in Europe.

Lublin cultural heritage, the already big and still growing number of cultural events on offer, the flourishing academic life, and the character of Lublin Region make Lublin a city with great potential that should be realized as fully as possible. If we are awarded with the European Capital of Culture title, in 2016 Lublin will be presenting its cultural program in cooperation with partners from the East and West. It will be attracting tourists and artists. For a year, this city will be a huge European cultural center vibrant with life. It will be hosting concerts, festivals, conferences, shows, exhibitions, and other events.

The image of the city will benefit from this opportunity; Lublin will also become more well-known all around the world. The European Capital of Culture title will influence the development of culture, tourism and services. It will provide the impetus for the economic development of Lublin and the region. More funds will be allocated to culture, more funds from the European Union will be available, and moreover, the city will receive a financial reward. Lublin and its region will prosper, and the number of tallented students at Lublin universities will rise. The infrastructure will improve and the city will hold more attraction for investors.

However, to achieve success we need close cooperation between the city and the Lublin Region. The institutions and citizens of Lublin should join forces to fulfil a common goal.

The only way to win the the European Capital of Culture 2016 title is cooperation.

2010 Earth's temperature was the highest for more than 400 years

Measurements from tree rings, boreholes and retreating glaciers provide sufficient evidence that the surface temperature of the Earth in the last few decades of the 20th century was higher than any comparable period for the past 400 years, according to a report released Thursday by the NRC that both reinforces and curtails conclusions in an earlier study.

The data also indicates that many parts of the Earth in the past 25 years were hotter than anywhere else on the globe than any other 25-year period since 900 A.D.

The cause? A lot of it is from human activity. "Surface temperature reconstructions for periods before the Industrial Revolution--when levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases were much lower--are only one of multiple lines of evidence supporting the conclusion that current warming is occurring in response to human activities, and they are not the primary evidence," stated a press release that accompanied the study.

The report was requested by Congress after a controversy arose last year over surface temperature reconstructions published by climatologist Michael Mann and his colleagues in the late 1990s. Mann concluded that the warming of the Northern Hemisphere in the last decades of the 20th century was unprecedented in the past thousand years. The 1990s, Mann added, was the warmest decade ever and 1998 was the warmest year ever.

The researchers behind the new report said they had "high confidence" in the conclusion that global temperatures were at a peak over the last 400 years. However, because of the spotty nature of data earlier, particularly for the Southern Hemisphere, it had less confidence in Mann's conclusions for the period from 900 to 1600 and "very little confidence" in conclusions about previous years. As a result, the researchers had little confidence in the conclusion that the previous decade was the hottest ever and 1998 was the hottest year.

Still, the researchers found Mann's conclusion that temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere in the last few decades represented a high for the last 1,000 years to be plausible. None of the climate reconstructions in the new study indicate that temperatures were warmer during medieval times than during the past few decades. (The Spanish Armada took place in 1588.)

Scientists do not have temperature records going back hundreds of years. Temperature records actually go back only 150 years. To determine surface temperature, researchers examine corals, ocean and lake sediments, ice cores, cave deposits and documentary sources such as historic drawings of glaciers.

Climactically speaking, the last 400 years have been sort of a roller coaster ride. From 1500 to 1850, the Earth was wrapped in what climatologists call the little ice age, where temperatures dipped. Since 1850, they have been rising. This last period also coincides with the Industrial Revolution.

In the past century, the temperature of the Earth has risen about 1 degree Farenheit. Scientists, however, believe the rate of temperature increase will accelerate. Ice reflects sunlight, so as glaciers retreat, more heat gets absorbed by the Earth. The greenhouse gas layer will also grow from burning fossil fuels, thereby trapping more heat.

It doesn't sound like much, but relatively small fluctuations like that can have a significant impact over a wide surface. A 5 degree to 8 degree rise in global temperature in the next 100 years, expected by many scientists, could cause sea levels to rise half a meter and put some island nations underwater.

The green house effect

The Goldilocks Principle can be summed up neatly as "Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold, and Earth is just right." The fact that Earth has an average surface temperature comfortably between the boiling point and freezing point of water, and thus is suitable for our sort of life, cannot be explained by simply suggesting that our planet orbits at just the right distance from the sun to absorb just the right amount of solar radiation. Our moderate temperatures are also the result of having just the right kind of atmosphere. A Venus-type atmosphere would produce hellish, Venus-like conditions on our planet; a Mars atmosphere would leave us shivering in a Martian-type deep freeze.

Instead, parts of our atmosphere act as an insulating blanket of just the right thickness, trapping sufficient solar energy to keep the global average temperature in a pleasant range. The Martian blanket is too thin, and the Venusian blanket is way too thick! The 'blanket' here is a collection of atmospheric gases called 'greenhouse gases' based on the idea that the gases also 'trap' heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse do.
hese gases, mainly water vapor ( ), carbon dioxide (), methane (), and nitrous oxide (), all act as effective global insulators. To understand why, it's important to understand a few basic facts about solar radiation and the structure of atmospheric gases.
Most of the radiant energy from the sun is concentrated in the visible and near-visible parts of the spectrum. The narrow band of visible light, between 400 and 700 nm, represents 43% of the total radiant energy emitted. Wavelengths shorter than the visible account for 7 to 8% of the total, but are extremely important because of their high energy per photon. The shorter the wavelength of light, the more energy it contains. Thus, ultraviolet light is very energetic (capable of breaking apart stable biological molecules and causing sunburn and skin cancers). The remaining 49 - 50% of the radiant energy is spread over the wavelengths longer than those of visible light. These lie in the near infrared range from 700 to 1000 nm; the thermal infrared, between 5 and 20 microns; and the far infrared regions. Various components of earth's atmosphere absorb ultraviolet and infrared solar radiation before it penetrates to the surface, but the atmosphere is quite transparent to visible light.

Absorbed by land, oceans, and vegetation at the surface, the visible light is transformed into heat and re-radiates in the form of invisible infrared radiation. If that was all there was to the story, then during the day earth would heat up, but at night, all the accumulated energy would radiate back into space and the planet's surface temperature would fall far below zero very rapidly. The reason this doesn't happen is that earth's atmosphere contains molecules that absorb the heat and re-radiate the heat in all directions. This reduces the heat radiated out to space. Called 'greenhouse gases' because they serve to hold heat in like the glass walls of a greenhouse, these molecules are responsible for the fact that the earth enjoys temperatures suitable for our active and complex biosphere.
Carbon dioxide () is one of the greenhouse gases. It consists of one carbon atom with an oxygen atom bonded to each side. When its atoms are bonded tightly together, the carbon dioxide molecule can absorb infrared radiation and the molecule starts to vibrate. Eventually, the vibrating molecule will emit the radiation again, and it will likely be absorbed by yet another greenhouse gas molecule. This absorption-emission-absorption cycle serves to keep the heat near the surface, effectively insulating the surface from the cold of space.

Atmospheric scientists first used the term 'greenhouse effect' in the early 1800s. At that time, it was used to describe the naturally occurring functions of trace gases in the atmosphere and did not have any negative connotations. It was not until the mid-1950s that the term greenhouse effect was coupled with concern over climate change. And in recent decades, we often hear about the greenhouse effect in somewhat negative terms. The negative concerns are related to the possible impacts of an enhanced greenhouse effect. This is covered in more detail in the Global Climate Change section of this Web site. It is important to remember that without the greenhouse effect, life on earth as we know it would not be possible.
While the earth's temperature is dependent upon the greenhouse-like action of the atmosphere, the amount of heating and cooling are strongly influenced by several factors just as greenhouses are affected by various factors.
In the atmospheric greenhouse effect, the type of surface that sunlight first encounters is the most important factor. Forests, grasslands, ocean surfaces, ice caps, deserts, and cities all absorb, reflect, and radiate radiation differently. Sunlight falling on a white glacier surface strongly reflects back into space, resulting in minimal heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Sunlight falling on a dark desert soil is strongly absorbed, on the other hand, and contributes to significant heating of the surface and lower atmosphere. Cloud cover also affects greenhouse warming by both reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface and by reducing the amount of radiation energy emitted into space.
Scientists use the term albedo to define the percentage of solar energy reflected back by a surface. Understanding local, regional, and global albedo effects is critical to predicting global climate change.
he ability of certain trace gases to be relatively transparent to incoming visible light from the sun, yet opaque to the energy radiated from the earth is one of the best understood processes in the atmospheric sciences. This phenomenon, the greenhouse effect, is what makes the earth habitable for life. 

Wild life and pollution

Animals are exposed to air pollutants via three pathways: 1) inhalation of gases or small particles; 2) ingestion of particles suspended in food or water; or 3) absorption of gases through the skin. In general, only soft-bodied invertebrates (e.g. earthworms), or animals with thin, moist skin (e.g. amphibians) are affected by the absorption of pollutants. An individual's response to a pollutant varies greatly and depends on the type of pollutant involved, the duration and time of exposure, and the amount taken up by the animal. The individual's age, sex, health, and reproductive condition also play a role in its response. There is a great deal of variability between animal classes, species, and even genotypes, in terms of the level of tolerance to a particular pollutant. In this section, the pollutants of concern have been divided into three broad categories: gases, such as ozone and hydrogen sulphide; non-acidic particulates and toxins, like metals, fluoride compounds, and organic and synthetic chemicals; and acidifying agents, specifically nitrates and sulphates.

Volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, emitted from industrial processes, undergo chemical transformation in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight to form ozone. Ozone, sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide primarily affect the respiratory system, and it is likely that birds are even more susceptible to gaseous pollutant injury than mammals due to their higher respiratory rates.

There are a number of air pollutants that are categorised as particulates. Heavy metals (e.g. lead, arsenic, and cadmium) are emitted by smelters; fluoride is emitted in both gaseous and particulate form from aluminium reduction plants and coal-fired power plants; and dioxins, furans, and mercury are emitted by resource recovery facilities. Metals may affect the circulatory, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems of animals. Often organs such as the kidney, liver, and brain are targeted. Entire populations can be affected as metal contamination can cause changes in birth, growth, and death rates.

Fluoride poisoning, or fluorosis, causes gross malformations of bones and teeth. Plants take up gaseous fluoride and store it in their tissues, and fluoride in particulate form is deposited on leaf surfaces and stays there until washed off. Herbivores are best known for exhibiting symptoms of fluoride poisoning. However, earthworms and other soil invertebrates also accumulate fluoride, which is, in turn, passed on to the animals that eat them.

Organic and synthetic chemicals, such as dioxins and organochlorines, affect wildlife. Dioxins bioaccumulate, or build up in the body by concentrating in body fat, and they are resistant to biological breakdown. A study of earthworms showed they accumulated dioxin up to five times the concentration found in the soil, although this dose was not lethal to the worms. Nevertheless, this non-lethal accumulation could have strong ecological implications, since earthworms are a major source of food for a number of bird and small mammal species, many of which have exhibited carcinogenic, reproductive, and immunotoxic effects after exposure to low levels of dioxins.

Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted as a result of fossil fuel combustion undergo chemical transformation in the atmosphere, and occur as sulphate, nitrate, and hydrogen ions when dissolved in precipitation known as "acid rain". Well-buffered soils can adsorb sulphate and neutralise acidity, resulting in soil water and streamwater composition being maintained in a range acceptable to organisms. The adsorption capacity of even well-buffered soils is limited, however, and long-term deposition of acidic compounds depletes the supply of base cations in the soils that buffer these inputs. The build-up of sulphates and nitrates in soils can result in delayed acidification of surface waters once saturation is reached in sensitive watersheds.

The effects of decreasing pH on aquatic invertebrates and fish have been summarised in a National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) report. Insect taxa differ greatly in their response to acidity, with some species affected at pH levels near 6.0. In the early stages of acidification, acid-sensitive species are replaced by acid-tolerant ones. However, as pH levels continue to drop, more species are lost.

Many studies have demonstrated that surface water acidification can lead to a decline in, and loss of, fish populations. Below pH 4.5 no fish are likely to survive. Fish loss is occurring in many countries, including Scandinavia, Scotland, Wales and North America. A decrease in pH is often associated with an increase in metal availability, being particularly true for aluminium and mercury. Decreased pH and elevated aluminium have been shown to increase fish mortality, decrease fish growth, decrease egg production and embryo survival, and result in physiological impairment of adult fish. In general, embryos, fry, and juveniles are less acid-tolerant than adult fish. Aluminium can precipitate onto fish gills, inhibiting diffusion and resulting in respiratory stress.

Acid deposition is a possible cause of declines in amphibian populations. The larval stages of aquatic amphibian species are most affected by acidic water. Many frog species use temporary ponds, but these tend to be small and shallow, and are easily affected by precipitation chemistry because their only sources of water are rainfall and snowmelt. Frogs that use large, permanent bodies of water for breeding generally lay their eggs in the summer, so they do not experience the acid pulses from snowmelt. However, the eggs and larvae of these species are even more sensitive to subtle changes in pH levels than those of species that breed in the temporary ponds. As is true with fish, the toxic effect of decreased pH levels on amphibians is complicated when concentrations of metals, such as aluminium, in the water increase, but as a general rule, embryos of sensitive amphibian species are killed by water with a pH of 4.5 or lower, while embryos of tolerant species can survive down to a pH of 3.7.

In addition to affecting individual animals or populations directly, air pollutants also affect wildlife indirectly by causing changes in the ecosystem. Vegetation affords cover for protection from predators and weather, provides breeding and nesting habitat, and also serves as a food source. Therefore, any change in vegetation could indirectly affect animal populations. Many studies have found that invertebrates show a preference for, or are better able to establish themselves in, air pollution-injured vegetation.

Fluoride and heavy metals can accumulate in the soil to levels that are toxic to soil invertebrates. Species sensitive to metals are replaced by ones that are more metal-tolerant. For example, soft-bodied species such as earthworms and nematodes seem to be more readily affected by elevated metal concentrations. Invertebrates play an important role in forest floor litter decomposition. As forest floor litter builds up, mineral release is delayed, and the availability of nutrients to plants is reduced. Herbivores are ultimately affected when the quantity or quality of their food supply decreases.

Although birds and mammals are not directly affected by water acidification, they are indirectly affected by changes in the quantity and quality of their food resources. Some birds such as the osprey, find difficulty in living around an acid lake because there are far fewer fish to be found. However, the diver finds hunting easier in an acid lake because the water of an acid lake is clearer than that of a normal lake. In Scotland, Otters are quite rare around acidic streams and rivers, as their main food supply, fish, are reduced.

Calcium is an essential element for both mammals and birds. An adequate dietary supply is crucial during reproduction. Birds need calcium for the proper formation of eggshells and for skeletal growth of hatchlings, and mammals need calcium for skeletal development of foetuses. Many invertebrate species that contain high concentrations of calcium, such as molluscs and crustaceans, are very sensitive to pH levels and are among the first to disappear during the acidification of wetlands.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)

These premium EcoBulb® Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) use less energy to produce better light than standard lightbulbs. They use 75% less energy and last about 7 years. We carry three categories of EcoBulbs® specially designed to make life at home easier on the eyes - and the wallet.






(1) Standard CFLs for your everyday (and night) lighting needs.

(2) Cool White CFLs increase the contrast on the page when you're reading, so they're ideal for work areas such as a home office or study.

(3) Full Spectrum or Daylight CFLs make it feel like it's sunny inside. They're designed to imitate sunlight and they're best suited for indirect lighting inside.

The energy and environmental savings from these EcoBulbs® are so pronounced that it's worth removing even a brand new incandescent lightbulb to replace it with a CFL - your wallet and your world will thank you!

Melting of Earth's Ice Cover Reaches New High

The Earth's ice cover is melting in more places and at higher rates than at any time since record keeping began. Reports from around the world compiled by the Worldwatch Institute (see attached data table) show that global ice melting accelerated during the 1990s-which was also the warmest decade on record.
Scientists suspect that the enhanced melting is among the first observable signs of human-induced global warming, caused by the unprecedented release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases over the past century. Glaciers and other ice features are particularly sensitive to temperature shifts.

The Earth's ice cover acts as a protective mirror, reflecting a large share of the sun's heat back into space and keeping the planet cool. Loss of the ice would not only affect the global climate, but would also raise sea levels and spark regional flooding, damaging property and endangering lives. Large-scale melting would also threaten key water supplies as well as alter the habitats of many of the world's plant and animal species.
Some of the most dramatic reports come from the polar regions, which are warming faster than the planet as a whole and have lost large amounts of ice in recent decades. The Arctic sea ice, covering an area roughly the size of the United States, shrunk by an estimated 6 percent between 1978 and 1996, losing an average of 34,300 square kilometers-an area larger than the Netherlands-each year.
The Arctic sea ice has also thinned dramatically since the 1960s and 70s. Between this period and the mid-1990s, the average thickness dropped from 3.1 meters to 1.8 meters-a decline of nearly 40 percent in less than 30 years.
The Arctic's Greenland Ice Sheet-the largest mass of land-based ice outside of Antarctica, with 8 percent of the world's ice-has thinned more than a meter per year on average since 1993 along parts of its southern and eastern edges.
The massive Antarctic ice cover, which averages 2.3 kilometers in thickness and represents some 91 percent of Earth's ice, is also melting. So far, most of the loss has occurred along the edges of the Antarctic Peninsula, on the ice shelves that form when the land-based ice sheets flow into the ocean and begin to float. Within the past decade, three ice shelves have fully disintegrated: the Wordie, the Larsen A, and the Prince Gustav. Two more, the Larsen B and the Wilkins, are in full retreat and are expected to break up soon, having lost more than one-seventh of their combined 21,000 square kilometers since late 1998-a loss the size of Rhode Island. Icebergs as big as Delaware have also broken off Antarctica in recent years, posing threats to open-water shipping.
Antarctica's vast land ice is also melting, although there is disagreement over how quickly. One study estimates that the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), the smaller of the continent's two ice sheets, has retreated at an average rate of 122 meters a year for the past 7,500 years-and is in no imminent danger of collapse. But other studies suggest that the sheet may break more abruptly if melting accelerates. They point to signs of past collapse, as well as to fast-moving ice streams within the sheet that could speed ice melt, as evidence of potential instability.
Outside the poles, most ice melt has occurred in mountain and subpolar glaciers, which have responded much more rapidly to temperature changes. As a whole, the world's glaciers are now shrinking faster than they are growing, and losses in 1997-98 were "extreme," according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. Scientists predict that up to a quarter of global mountain glacier mass could disappear by 2050, and up to one-half by 2100-leaving large patches only in Alaska, Patagonia, and the Himalayas. Within the next 35 years, the Himalayan glacial area alone is expected to shrink by one-fifth, to 100,000 square kilometers.
The disappearance of Earth's ice cover would significantly alter the global climate-though the net effects remain unknown. Ice, particularly polar ice, reflects large amounts of solar energy back into space, and helps keep the planet cool. When ice melts, however, this exposes land and water surfaces that retain heat-leading to even more melt and creating a feedback loop that accelerates the overall warming process. But excessive ice melt in the Arctic could also have a cooling effect in parts of Europe and the eastern United States, as the influx of fresh water into the North Atlantic may disrupt ocean circulation patterns that enable the warm Gulf Stream to flow north.

As mountain glaciers shrink, large regions that rely on glacial runoff for water supply could experience severe shortages. The Quelccaya Ice Cap, the traditional water source for Lima, Peru, is now retreating by some 30 meters a year-up from only 3 meters a year before 1990-posing a threat to the city's 10 million residents. And in northern India, a region already facing severe water scarcity, an estimated 500 million people depend on the tributaries of the glacier-fed Indus and Ganges rivers for irrigation and drinking water. But as the Himalayas melt, these rivers are expected to initially swell and then fall to dangerously low levels, particularly in summer. (In 1999, the Indus reached record high levels because of glacial melt.)
Rapid glacial melting can also cause serious flood damage, particularly in heavily populated regions such as the Himalayas. In Nepal, a glacial lake burst in 1985, sending a 15-meter wall of water rushing 90 kilometers down the mountains, drowning people and destroying houses. A second lake near the country's Imja Glacier has now grown to 50 hectares, and is predicted to burst within the next five years, with similar consequences.
Large-scale ice melt would also raise sea levels and flood coastal areas, currently home to about half the world's people. Over the past century, melting in ice caps and mountain glaciers has contributed on average about one-fifth of the estimated 10-25 centimeter (4-10 inch) global sea level rise-with the rest caused by thermal expansion of the ocean as the Earth warmed. But ice melt's share in sea level rise is increasing, and will accelerate if the larger ice sheets crumble. Antarctica alone is home to 70 percent of the planet's fresh water, and collapse of the WAIS, an ice mass the size of Mexico, would raise sea levels by an estimated 6 meters-while melting of both Antarctic ice sheets would raise them nearly 70 meters. (Loss of the Arctic sea ice or of the floating Antarctic ice shelves would have no effect on sea level because these already displace water.)

Wildlife is already suffering as a result of global ice melt-particularly at the poles, where marine mammals, seabirds, and other creatures depend on food found at the ice edge. In northern Canada, reports of hunger and weight loss among polar bears have been correlated with changes in the ice cover. And in Antarctica, loss of the sea ice, together with rising air temperatures and increased precipitation, is altering the habitats as well as feeding and breeding patterns of penguins and seals.

Save planet from from the luxary of your Home

No styrofoam Be sure to cross styrofoam cups off your shopping list. With the amount of foam cups we use each year, we could circle the earth 436 times.
Buy in bulk Buy products with less packaging or buy in bulk. And always choose paper or cardboard, which biodegrade, over plastic.
Home water filter Instead of loading up on bottled water, install a water filter on your home faucet. That $5 filter will give you 40,000 8-ounce glasses of purified tap water.
Low-flow showerhead Save water by taking shorter showers and installing a low-flow showerhead. Low-flow showerheads can reduce the water flow up to 50 percent.
Low-flow toilet Don't flush money down the toilet. A low-flush toilet uses half the water but still does the job.
Support local farmers On average, your food has traveled 1200 miles just to get to your plate. Shopping at farmers' markets, co-ops and CSAs allows you to buy directly from the people who grow the food. (See 100 mile diet)
Reduce your junk mail An estimated 4 million tons (34 pounds per person) of paper junk mail are sent each year in the U.S. and nearly half of it is never opened. If 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, we could save up to 150,000 trees each year.
Make your office green We use so much office paper that we could build a 12-foot-high paper wall from New York to Los Angeles every year. Make your office greener by making double sided copies, sending office memos over e-mail and shredding waste paper for packing material.
Limit your brochures When you consider the number of visitors hosted at popular tourists attractions every year, you can see what a waste of paper one brochure per person really is. Don't take a brochure unless you really need one. Then return it so someone else can use it.
Eliminate pesticides Home gardeners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers. Use organic alternatives and beneficial insects instead.
Use natural cleaners Replace chemical cleaners with non-toxic products. Most ingredients can already be found in your kitchen.
Build a greener home Ensure your family's health while living in a beautiful home that sustains the environment.
Switch to solar energy In one day, the sun provides more energy than our population could use in 27 years. Make the switch to sunlight — it doesn't pollute and it's free.
Plant shade trees Shade trees outside your home can reduce the temperature inside by 10 to 20 degrees, and save you $100 to $250 a year in electricity.
Buy a mulching lawnmower To take care of your yard without bagging or burning leaves and lawn clippings, get a mulching lawnmower that spreads the grass clippings back on the lawn, where they decompose and feed the soil.
Share a ride Most cars on U.S. roads carry only one person, leaving enough room in our cars for everyone in western Europe to ride with us. Consider car-pooling and public transportation.
Keep your car tuned Keeping your car in good working condition will not only make your car last longer, it will make it more fuel-efficient.
Drive a hybrid When in the market for a new vehicle, consider buying a hybrid. A hybrid can reduce smog pollution by 90 percent compared with the cleanest vehicles on the road today.
Use compact fluorescent bulbs They last 10 times longer and use only one-fourth of the energy compared to incandescent light bulbs.
Turn ups, turn downs Turn your thermostat down three degrees in the winter and up three degrees in the summer. You can prevent the emission of nearly 1100 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Use a notebook computer Save energy in your home office by switching to a laptop. Notebook computers are 90 percent more energy-efficient than desktop computers. They run on rechargeable batteries, and have energy-saving features like low-energy display screens and automatic sleep modes.
Get unplugged TVs and VCRs that are turned "off" cost us nearly a billion dollars a year in electricity. Unplugging them is the only way to ensure that they are not using any energy.
Wash in cold water When it comes time to do the laundry, you can cut your energy use and washing costs in half by switching to cold water.
Front-loading dryers You'll save even more money using front-loading dryers.
Reuse

Buy reusable products Every year, we throw away 2 billion disposable razors and blades and we could circle the planet from end to end with the amount of disposable cameras we use yearly. Buy reusable items rather than single-use products.
Reusable coffee filters One cloth filter can replace over 300 paper filters, which means that fewer trees will be cut down.
Clean spills with cloth Twenty-seven million trees a year are destroyed to support our paper towel addiction. Clean up your spills with cotton kitchen towels or old clothes.
Rechargeable batteries We buy 5 billion batteries every year. Trouble is, they're not biodegradable and they're full of toxic heavy metals that could leak into landfills. What's the answer? Rechargeable batteries. Each rechargeable battery can replace between 50 and 300 throwaway batteries.
Reuse greeting cards Even greeting cards can be reused. Cut off the fronts and use them as postcards, or send the fronts to St. Jude's Ranch for Children. The kids re-mount greeting cards and sell them to raise money for college.
Recycle

Recycle your cans Every month, we throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet. Recycled, that aluminum would be worth $600 million by year's end.
Look inside the triangle Plastic can only be recycled a limited number of times. Plastics labeled with #1 or #2 are most easily recycled, so look for a number inside the triangle on the bottom of most plastic containers.
Recycle the news Americans throw away 44 million newspapers every day. That's 500,000 trees a week, which is a good reason to recycle your paper or read it online.
Recycle your bicycle Keep your bicycle in shape the way you would your car. When it's time to get rid of it, recycle. You'd be amazed at what is being made out of recycled bicycle parts.
Live Healthily

Use glass instead of plastic Especially for short-term food storage. Plastic packaging leaves chemical residues on foods stored or heated in it.
Clean the air with indoor plants The air in the average home is far more dangerous than the air outside. Open your windows or clean the air with plants that eliminate airborne toxins.
Walk or bike Twenty-five percent of all car trips are less than a mile long. So get in gear and get some pollution-free exercise.
Wet, not dry cleaning As for dry cleaning — red alert. Clothes are doused with a cancer-causing chemical called "perchloroethylene." Look for a wet cleaner instead. These companies use delicate soaps, liquid carbon dioxide or silicone to wash your clothes.
Buy organic food Organic foods are grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers — a healthier option not only for you, but also the planet.
Hold on to your balloons At children's parties, don't let mylar balloons fly away. They can end up in a lake or ocean, where a sea animal might choke on them.
Eat fish carefully Sea life around the globe is being threatened by everything from pollution to over-fishing. We are quickly running out of seafood in general and in the process, destroying the ecosystem in which they live. Choose your seafood responsibly. Excellent choices: mahi mahi, Pacific cod
Plant a school garden By planting a garden, students can learn about the connection between what they eat and where it comes from, while getting hands-on experience in planting, digging and cultivating.
Give

Buy carbon offsets Air traffic is a prime contributor to global warming so, when you fly, give some money to a company that invests in projects to reduce carbon dioxide — like planting trees.
Go on a service vacation Take a vacation that's good for you and the environment. These volunteer vacations are offered at unique destinations around the world. You can help maintain trails, remove invasive plants, and even assist with wildlife habitat preservation.
Donate with a credit card You can also donate money to charity simply by using your credit card when you shop. Select service organizations have agreements with credit card companies where each time you use that card, a small donation goes to their organization at no charge to you.
Donate old paint cans Most paints contain metals that are hazardous to the environment when thrown away. Donate your leftover paint to your local theater company instead. Your neighborhood recycling center can also suggest drop-off points.
Donate your car to charity Your car doesn't even have to be running and part of the proceeds will benefit the cause of your choice.
Donate your cell phone Cell phone technology changes so rapidly that it's hard to keep up. But what do you do with your old phone? Don't throw your old cell phones away and don't let them sit in the bottom of your junk drawer at home. Here's the best thing to do with an unused cell phone: donate it.
Donate your computer Giving away your old computer can do a lot of good, too. Not only does it keep potentially hazardous materials out of landfills, it also puts a computer in the hands of someone who needs it.
Green Investments Here's a way to make a difference, and maybe make some money, too. Invest in socially responsible funds and companies. These investments perform as well, if not better than alternative investment options.
Spread the word You've altered your house, your car and your lifestyle. Think you're finished? Well you're not... because there's still one more thing that you can do: Spread the word.